"Waait a minute.. *Ohmigosh!!* Is that the Coalsack??!! Seriously! We're actually looking at the Coalsack patch in Crux! We can actually SEE that?!" 4-5 March 2000 (Mersing, Malaysia)
4th March, Saturday, 8am. I'm still having some reservations about going on this trip. Yes, I made a choice to go on this trip based on instinct. Truth be told, I was expected to be carrying out a work responsibility somewhere else at 11am. And yes, my conscience is stabbing me right now for trading in my work commitments for this trip. 10am, we boarded the express bus to Mersing; I guess there's no turning back now, I'll have to cancel. Excuses run through my head. Thankfully, I have a pretty good track record, so I guess I could mess this one up. How can anyone else understand how important the new moon is to me? (Sounds too much like a cult thing. *sheesh*) 10.45am, we're queuing up at the Immigration checkpoint. The phone dials.. "Ahem.. (I mask my voice with a sickly rasp.) Sorry, but I'm not feeling too well today, I need to postpone today's appointment. I'll see you on Monday. Thanks." Guilty, guilty, guilty! :)
Surprisingly, we sailed through the customs checkpoint. A valid note for worry as this was no petty equipment. It was quite a chore to drag the equipment on and off the bus and fret about the customs officer's moods. But once we passed this check, the rest of the journey would completed in mental peace.
We hit Mersing town by 2pm and hung around the KFC outlet making last-minute preparations. By 5pm, we reached Tanjung Resang. The place looked as picturesque as before. We came early enough today to do some exploring. A cattle herd of 16 grazed the nearby area. One mad cow with horns would be sufficient to take down the Losmandy G11 and its attachments. We prayed for the cows would go home when the sun set, and graciously they did.
Just to the Northeast side of this place was a delightful stretch of sand and sea. I had always thought this was a deserted place, roamed by few, sauf the German(?) guy who lived there in a stilt house. A little walk around the area revealed several other stilt houses, and a semi-resort located by the bay inlet. There was a canoeing expedition group who had just arrived at the beach cove. In addition to the cattle, a flock of sheep was spotted grazing the grassy patch of land seperating the South China Sea from the cove area.
Returned to camp just in time for sunset. A beautiful vermillion orb sinking westwards slowly behind the shadows of the coconut trees. The hunt had begun for the first star of the night.. erm, hang on.. what first star?! We got 5 bright ones right now, and more are appearing by the minute! Jupiter, Sirius, Rigel, Saturn, Capella, and on and on.
The very moment we spotted enough stars in the sky, and figured that it was sufficiently dark, we proceeded onto photography. The first region: Orion, of special interest tonight, the Rosette nebula and M42 and M43. Come to think of it, the entire sky was about flooded with stars, but we had to work with the ones which were setting soon.
Unbelievable! Almost no clouds, just a few little puffs now and then in the lowest stratosphere. This was to be the case for the whole night. But these were strange clouds; None were reflecting light from the nearby resorts. The cloudy puffs were darker than the starlit skies. We only know they are passing by when the stars slowly polarize out of our sight. They were almost like some kind of light-absorbing dark matter. Interesting.
While Remus and I were absorbed in astrophotography, Gavin had located a couple of Messier objects. What excited Gavin most was his first glimpse at the Milky Way next to the Orion and Canis Major region. The faintest region of our galaxy. It can be quite an amazing sight for any city astronomer.
Almost perfect conditions for photography work too. Few clouds, slight wind, and NO DEW from dusk to dawn. Everything stayed dry. It wasn't even cold. The only inconvenience was the biting insects which managed to attack the flesh through our clothes. Occasionally, a passing motorist would temporarily flash us. :) The road was pretty close by. Busy night for aeroplanes too as they zipped around. Unusual though that we could not see the floodlit path of the planes, only their blinking red signature.
There were sporadic meteors abound too. We caught a couple of small ones and a few more with longer trails. They had no specific point of origin. The Milky Way was unfolding magnificently. From The region of Auriga (am I dreaming??) to Monoceros, just past Canis Major and Puppis. The Carina region was about rising and Eta Carina was a patchy sight.
The guys fell asleep just before midnight, leaving me to my own devices. While the guys napped, I borrowed Gavin's binocs and went on a Messier hunt of my own. The binocular stellar views were spectacular and the Messier objects were just waiting to be found. Even with the naked eye, I could make out several fuzzy patches of something or another.
2.15am, the first battery for the G11 was exhausted. Gavin and Remus were starting to stir. Centaurus was up, Crux was on the distant horizon, and Antares (Scorpius) had risen too. The Milky Way continued its glorious path across Vela and Carina, through Crux. Waait a minute.. *Ohmigosh!!* Is that the Coalsack??!! Seriously! We're actually looking at the Coalsack patch in Crux! We can actually SEE that?! That's a first for all three of us and how are we ever going to be satisfied with just city skies from now? Unbelievable.
Sagittarius and Scorpius wove their way into the starry tapestry continuing the Milky Way mosaic. Soon (or so it seemed) the skies were gently paleing; Is it morning already? *Sigh!* Truly one starlit night to remember.
By Lin . 8th March 2000, Wednesday.
